<P>War torn Afghanistan is set to get three more commercial airlines, further increasing competition against national carrier <A href="http://www.flyariana.com/fleet.php" target=_blank>Ariana&nbsp;Afghan Airlines</A>.</P> <P>Afghanistan’s aviation and transportation minister, Niamatullah Ehsan Jawed, told journalists at a press conference in Kabul that three privately-owned carriers have received approval from the local civil aviation authority (CAA) and will start flying soon.</P> <P>He says 15 applied in total but only three were approved – Afghan Airlines, Access Air and Safi Air.</P> <P>Currently the country has just two commercial airlines: state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines and privately-owned Kam Air.</P> <P>Ariana operates an <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-24" target=_blank>Antonov&nbsp;An-24</A>, some <A href="http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/a300a310/a300-600/performance.html" target=_blank>Airbus&nbsp;A300s</A>, <A href="http://www.boeing.com/chttp://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/New-airlines-starting-in-Afghanistan-215319/